ESCONDIDO – Fresh off a game-winning overtime touchdown and an appearance on CBS's “60 Minutes,” Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson was in Escondido yesterday honoring firefighters and other first responders to the October firestorms.

CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune
Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson signed a football for a firefighter yesterday during an event to honor first responders to the October wildfires.
“You know what, people think athletes are the real heroes,” Tomlinson said to a crowd of hundreds, many of them in their uniforms.
“But all we do is entertain and try to set the right example for people. . . . But the firefighters, the sheriffs, the nurses, the doctors, you guys are the real heroes because you're protecting us and keeping us safe.”

Tomlinson and his wife, LaTorsha, paid for the event, held at the amphitheater in Kit Carson Park, and received a standing ovation when introduced.

The afternoon featured numerous speakers throwing out heartfelt thank-yous to the crowd.

On the first day of the fires, Tomlinson said, he was kicking back in his northern Poway home, enjoying the team's bye week and watching football, when his wife mentioned the county was ablaze.

“There's fires going on?” he asked.

CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune
Escondido Fire Department engineer Mike O'Connor held onto a signed Chargers helmet for a co-worker who won it in a raffle at yesterday's event.
“Aren't you paying attention?” LaTorsha replied.
“I said, ''You know, baby, the football games are on. I'm trying to see if Kansas City and Denver lose.' ”

They went to bed thinking things would be OK. But at 3 a.m. the phone rang. It was a Reverse 911 call telling them to evacuate.

Tomlinson said that when he looked out the window the sky was orange.

“That's when I really got scared,” he said, “My wife was hollering at me, 'Come on, come on. We got to go,' And I was brushing my teeth.”

As they drove away, smoke filled the sky. “The firefighters – you guys – were already there. You guys were really attacking that fire.”

Much later that day, Tomlinson said, he sneaked back into his neighborhood to check on the house.

“There were fires everywhere,” he said. “The most amazing thing to me was how the firefighters and the Sheriff's Department was in there. They didn't care about their lives. They were just trying to protect our homes.

“That's when for me it struck home how important this was and how much I appreciated” what they were doing.

He said he wasn't thinking about all the things he had left behind, like his National Football League MVP trophy. “I wasn't worried about that. I was worried about the firefighters who were fighting the fires.”

He said one image has been burned into his brain. It was of a young firefighter, his face covered with black soot, lying on a lawn chair taking a brief break and pouring water over his face.

“I just want to tell you we appreciate that from the bottom of our hearts, and that's why we're here today,” he said.

The event was organized by the LT Foundation, which also donated a number of raffle prizes, including an autographed football and Chargers helmet. Companies that Tomlinson represents donated other prizes, including Nike.

During the event, many firefighters went on stage to be photographed with the running back. One was Poway Division Chief Jon Canavan, who was in charge of the engines that saved Tomlinson's home.

The two men hugged.

“It was a wonderful event,” Poway Fire Chief Mark Sanchez said. “It came from the goodness of his heart.”